Ludic language

File:2.2b-Karelian-and-Ludic current.png

Current distribution of Karelian and Ludic

Ludic, Ludian, or Ludic Karelian ( or ), is a Finnic language in the Uralic language family or a third supradialect of Karelian. It is transitional between the Olonets Karelian language and the Veps language. It is spoken by 300 Karelians in the Republic of Karelia in Russia, near the southwestern shore of Lake Onega, including a few children.

Classification

File:Ludic flag.svg

Flag of Ludic Karelian

In the Finnish research tradition, Ludic has been considered a transitional dialect area between Karelian and Veps, while in the Russian research tradition it is, on ethnographic grounds, normally considered a dialect of Karelian. A status as an independent language has been proposed in recent times.Template:Sfn Ludic is characterised by a specific mixture of Karelian-like traits (such as the diphthongisation of the Proto-Finnic non-open long vowels: e.g. *pää > piä 'head', *soo > suo 'swamp', contrast Veps pä, so)Template:Sfn and Veps-like traits (such as an almost complete loss of consonant gradation).Template:Sfn Like Veps, Ludic has also partially lost vowel harmony.

Dialects

Ludic comprises three main dialect groups:Template:Sfn

• Ludic
  • Northern (Lake) Ludic, at the northwestern shores of Lake Onega
  • Central (River) Ludic, at settlements along river Shuya and near the city of Petrozavodsk
  • Kujärv (Forest) Ludic, in the Mikhaylovskoye (Kujärv) rural locality

The strongest Karelian resemblance is found in Northern Ludic, while the Kujärv dialect shares the most features with Veps.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front		Back
	unrounded	rounded	unrounded	rounded
Close	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Mid	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Open	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link

• Vowel length may also be distinctive.

Consonants

		Labial		Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Glottal
		plain	pal.	plain	pal.
Plosive	voiceless	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Affricate	voiceless			Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
	voiced					Template:IPA link
Fricative	voiceless	(Template:IPA link)	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link
	voiced	Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Nasal		Template:IPA link	(Template:IPA link)	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Approximant				Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Rhotic				Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link

• Sounds only occur in recent borrowings.
• can also be heard as a velar .
• is heard as velar when preceding velar consonants.
• can be lenited as a fricative in intervocalic positions.

Written language

The modern development of Ludic as a written language began during Perestroika in 1989, when the Petrozavodsk literary journal Carelia published the first poems in Ludic, based on the Kujärv dialect. At the same time, Lidia Potašova started teaching Ludic at the Kujärv school, using a Latin-based alphabet developed by Miikul Pahomov. The writing system was initially tested in literary texts before being applied to educational materials. In 1991, Potašova translated a Veps primer into Kujärv Ludic. Potašova and Pahomov later prepared the first proper Ludic primer ABC-kird' Kujärven lüüdin kielel (2003), which also included a grammar sketch and a small Kujärv Ludic dictionary. This was followed by the reader Tervheks! (2007) by Potašova and Pahomov.Template:Sfn

Subsequent publications have used two slightly different written norms. One is the Kujärv-based literary variety employed in primers, readers, and children's literature, while the other is a broader "general Ludic" standard that draws on central and northern Ludic dialects in an attempt to reduce dialectal differences. Pahomov himself experimented with this broader norm in works such as Lüüdiland (2000), Ehtsluužb (2005), and Ukon bembel (2010), where both orthographic tendencies are represented.Template:Sfn

In early Ludic publications the vowel /y/ was written either as Y, following the unified Karelian alphabet, or as Ü, by analogy with the Veps alphabet. This variation preceded the later standardization in primers and schoolbooks.

Majuscule Forms (also called uppercase or capital letters)

A

B

C

Č

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

Š

Z

Ž

T

U

V

Y (Ü)

Ä

Ö

ʹ

Minuscule Forms (also called lowercase or small letters)

a

b

c

č

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

l

m

n

o

p

r

s

š

z

ž

t

u

v

y (ü)

ä

ö

ʹ

Phrases

• = Who are you?
• = What is this?
• = Which one of you is Onni?
• = Why are you laughing?
• = What time is it?
• = When are they coming home?
• = He/She leaves tomorrow.

See also

• Karelian language

Literature

• Template:Cite thesis

External links

• Online Ludic dictinary
• ISO 639 code sets - SIL International
• Lyydiläinen Seura (The Ludian Society) Template:Webarchive